Cricket 2021

Top 10 Moments of Cricket in 2021

Tarif Akhlaq

Tarif Akhlaq
প্রকাশের তারিখ: 16:55 বৃহস্পতিবার, 30 ডিসেম্বর, 2021

|| CF CORRESPONDENT ||

It’s a no-brainer that another year draws to a close but before we begin the celebrations on New Year's Eve, it's time to look back at all the exciting things that have taken place in the cricketing world.

Here are the lists of the top 10 moments of cricket in 2021.

1) Bangladesh stun Australia and New Zealand in T20Is at home

Bangladesh registered their first T20I series win against Australia 4-1 in August and New Zealand 3-2 in September prior to the T20 World Cup.

Bangladesh skittled out Australia for their lowest ever T20 total of 62 runs in 13.4 overs. Australia's previous lowest was 79 all out against England in 2005.

2) New Zealand, WTC Champions

The first-ever final of the World Test Championship took place in 2021. New Zealand defeated India and created history to become the first-ever team to win the series.

Kyle Jamieson put in a player-of-the-match performance with the likes of Williamson, Ross Taylor, Devon Conway, Tim Southee and Trent Boult producing a team effort as the Black Caps registered an easy eight-wicket win to lift the trophy.

3) Campher's double hattrick

Ireland all-rounder Curtis Campher picked up four wickets in four balls against the Netherlands in the first round of the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. He also became only the second bowler after Australia's Brett Lee to register a hattrick in a T20 World Cup game.

Campher scalped Colin Ackermann, Ryan ten Doeschate, Scott Edwards and Roelof van der Merwe in consecutive balls in the 10th over of the match. Campher achieved the feat of bagging a hattrick as the first Irishman in international cricket.

4) Pakistan beat India in T20 World Cup

Shaheen Shah Afridi made a scorching opening spell against arch-rival India in T20 World Cup to pick up three momentous wickets including Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli.

Rohit and Rahul fell in the first over. Pakistan stun the world, beating India by a massive margin of 10-wickets for the first time in any World Cup.

5) Perfect ten for Patel

Ajaz Patel became the third bowler in the history of Tests to pick up all ten wickets in an innings against India. Patel returned figures with 10 for 119 in the first innings. Only Jim Laker and Anil Kumble had achieved the feat before him. Although New Zealand lost the match by a massive margin, Patel had a tremendous match, picking up as many as 14 wickets in the match.

6) Australia get the elusive trophy

Aaron Finch and his men finally added the missing piece of the T20 World Cup trophy to the Australian Trophy showcase. The Australian team won the T20 World Cup this year after they defeated New Zealand in the final by 8 wickets.

Australia have won every major white-ball trophy but the T20 World Cup title remained elusive for far too long. They faced unbeaten Pakistan in the last-four stage but a memorable win followed and riding the momentum, they thrashed New Zealand by eight wickets to become the newest champions.

7) India's comeback against the Mighty Aussies

2021 started with a great note for the Indian cricket team and the Indian cricket fans. After India were bundled out for 36 in Adelaide, their regular captain Virat Kohli's departure was a massive blow. During the tour, they lost a number of players to injury. But they scripted a comeback against all the odds.

The Indian test team defeated the Australian team with remarkable performances. First, it started with stunning performances by Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari in the test held in Sydney. Next in Gabba, Shubman Gill and especially Rishabh Pant stole the show and registered the historical triumph by chasing 328 runs.

8) Pollard hits 6 sixes

Kieron Pollard became the 3rd cricketer to smash 6 sixes in an over in international cricket. He joined the elite list of Yuvraj Singh and Harshal Gibbs and hit 6 sixes this year in a T20I match against Sri Lanka.

9) Rizwan rules T20Is

Mohammad Rizwan passed an extraordinary year having scored 1326 runs in 26 matches at a stunning average of 73.66 including a century and 12 half-centuries.

He is the first-ever T20I batter to breach the 1,000 run-mark, first to hit more than 10 fifties and 100-plus fours in a calendar year.

10) Root’s stunning year

Joe Root scored the most runs in a calendar year of 2021. With 1708 runs from 14 Tests, Root has become just the fourth player in the format’s history to breach the 1600-run mark in a calendar year. The record for the most runs in a calendar year belongs to Mohmmad Yousuf who made 1788 runs in 2006.

Additionally, Root has also surpassed the legendary Alastair Cook for the record of most Test runs by an England captain now. He also went past Cook for the most 50s by an England captain in Test – Root has 37, one more that Cook now.